bighairymike: ..I have no problem with new revenue so long as it is accompanied with iron clad caps on spending growth at a level less than revenue growth...

Almost no one in America goes through life without borrowing money, and usually considerably more money than their annual income.

There's nothing wrong with debt, per se.

In fact, debt as a percentage of GDP is lower now than it was under Trump. And during the Biden years, the deficit has been paid down.

bighairymike: How about clawing back all the unspent Covid relief money. Billions were allocated to upgrade and replace the HVAC system in all the schools in the country. Not sure that work was ever started to any appreciable degree but it certainly was not even close to completed.

Just over half of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds have been spent, according to the latest federal data. States and districts are on schedule to meet the September 2024 deadline for using the entire $189 billion allotted in three rounds of Congressional appropriations.

But you want the money back before the deadline for spending it?

bidhairymike: Budget it for one thing and spend it on another has to stop.

ESSER funds have spending guidelines. The money wasn't only earmarked for HVAC projects and it cannot be spent "on another" project at will.

future-ed.org - Progress in spending federal k covid aid state by state